Committee Recommends Construction on New Bus Turn-Outs

The municipality is one step closer to getting new bus turn-outs on Confederation Way and Thickwood Boulevard.

On Tuesday, the Land Planning and Transportation Committee approved the construction on the new stops, sending a recommendation to council.

Originally, the idea was to build 28 heated shelters on the roads but the scope changed after discovering potential safety and congestion concerns.

“We noticed this when the stops were located on Confederation and Thickwood during the pilot projects,” said Robert Billard, Director of Public Works and Transit Services.

The RMWB started the pilot project right after re-entry. Concerns were raised as buses would come to complete stops along the busy roads.

The scope was eventually changed to two turn-outs, one located next to the Casman Centre and the other between Paquette and Millennium Drive.

“The Powder Drive terminal is creating congestion issues and we wanted to see if we could alleviate it as well,” added Billard.

These stops would be separated from the roads giving traffic more room to pass by. They would also include secure washroom facilities for operators, heated shelters for passengers, and room for five to seven buses to park.

The project is being fully funded by the provincial and federal governments. The RMWB has received verbal approval to use the funds on the new project, as they were first allocated for the 28 shelters.

“The municipality has been looking to locate transit terminals in the community,” added Billard. “A lot of times land has been an issue, at one stage of the game we were going to locate on at Mac Island and this gives us an opportunity over on the north side to actually locate a couple.”

Billard notes pre-design and design would most likely be finished in 2017 with construction starting next year.